1956–57 Boston Bruins season
The 1956–57 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 33rd season in the NHL. The Bruins finished 3rd in the league and lost to the Montreal Canadiens four games to one in the 1957 Stanley Cup Finals. Off-season Hal Laycoe and Bill Quackenbush retired in the off-season. Both were excellent defensemen with Quackenbush selected to the First and Second All-Stars teams multiple times. GM Lynn Patrick purchased an excellent replacement from the Chicago Blackhawks, Allan Stanley. Stanley played two superlative seasons for the Bruins before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1958. This was a contributing factor in the Bruins decline during the early to mid 1960's as Stanley would go on to play a decade of excellent defense for the Leafs. The 10th National Hockey League All-Star Game was held at Detroit on October 9, 1956. A team of all-stars that included three Bruins, Terry Sawchuk, Fern Flaman and Leo Labine (the same three were in the 9th All-Star Game) played against the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. The game ended in a 1-1 tie with no Bruins recording a point. Regular Season The Bruins started the season slowly with a 2-3-3 record in October. The offensive started to click in November led by Real Chevrefils, who'd finish with 31 goals and be voted a Second Team All-Star. Vic Stasiuk, Fleming Mackell and Don McKenney would all surpass the 20 goal mark but it was depth scoring provided by Johnny Peirson and rookie Larry Regan that often made the difference in Bruins wins. Regan would win the Calder Memorial Trophy. Terry Sawchuk was brilliant while the defense was led by captain Fern Flaman, who'd be voted a Second Team All-Star. This season saw Doug Mohns play mainly on defense though he'd occasionally play his old position at left wing. The Bruins had a seven game winning streak in November and only two losses, both by one goal. The Bruins began December in first place and looked to be unstoppable until after the December 8, 1956 game against Detroit, Sawchuk was hospitalized with infectious mononucleosis. Initially, doctors believed he could be out months but after a recovery period, it was reported he'd be back in action by the end of December. Norm Defelice replaced Sawchuk in net and went 3-3-1. When Sawchuk returned on December 27, 1956, the Bruins were still in first place and he'd been voted to mid-season All Star Team. Sawchuk played eight more games for the Bruins but had come back from his illness too early. Weak and playing poorly, he announced his retirement, citing nervous exhaustion and not wanting to let the team down. This was a huge blow to the Bruins and after Defelice again stepped in for Sawchuk and went winless in three games, GM Patrick traded him, Floyd Smith and the loan of Jack Bionda to the New York Rangers for Don Simmons. Defelice would never play in the NHL again while Simmons played his first NHL game for the Bruins on January 26, 1957. Simmons play the remaining games in Boston's season and would be the starter for several years until traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1961. Simmons went 13-9-4 with 4 shutouts to lead the Bruins into the playoffs. During the February 7, 1957 game versus the Detroit Red Wings at Detroit, the Bruins were leading 1-0 with less than three minutes to play. Ted Lindsay and Jerry Toppazzini were pursing the puck when Lindsay hit Toppazzini in the face with his stick. Lindsay was given a high-sticking penalty and a misconduct but no suspension. Toppazzini suffered several broken bones in his face, a broken nose and broken teeth. He remained in Detroit for over a month where he had surgery to repair the broken bones and plastic surgery to fix the damaged flesh. He was the Bruins leading scorer when he was injured and returned to action in March. The injury affected his play during the playoffs, as he tallied only one assist but he recovered and had seven more effective seasons for the Bruins. As the season went into March, the Bruins, Canadiens and Red Wings were all fighting for first place. After losing Sawchuk for the season and Toppazzini missing 25 games, Allan Stanley was injured during the March 10, 1957 game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. Stanley missed the rest of the season and the playoffs. Defensemen Dick Cherry and Floyd "Bud" Hillman were called up and played the remaining regular season games. Hillman (brother of Wayne and Larry Hillman) never played in the NHL again while it would take Cherry (brother of Don Cherry) another 11 years. Heading into their last game of the regular season, Boston and Montreal were tied for second but a Bruins loss to the New York Rangers saw them finish in third place. Final Standings Game Log Playoffs Boston Bruins 4, Detroit Red Wings 1 The Bruins and Red Wings last met in the 1953 Semi-finals where Boston upset first place Detroit in six games. The Bruins would accomplish another upset in 1957, beating first place Detroit in five games. Rookie Don Simmons outplayed Glenn Hall while the Bruins line of Don McKenney, Real Chevrefils and Larry Regan held the league's two top scorers, Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay, to 2 goals each. Game 1 at the Detroit Olympia saw the Wings jump out to an early lead on a goal by Ted Lindsay 50 seconds in. Bruins fourth liner Jack Caffery scored the only playoff goal of his career late in the first period to tie the game. Lindsay took a boarding penalty at the end of the first period that would prove costly as Bruins defenseman Doug Mohns scored what would be the winner on the Power play 38 seconds into the second period. Real Chevrefils added another early in the third period as the Bruins stunned the Red Wings 3-1. Game 2 at Detroit saw the Red Wings special teams capitalize in a rough game where 20 penalties were called. After Red Kelly put Detroit up 1-0 in the first period, Lindsay won a face-off back to Gordie Howe whose one-timer beat Bruins goalie Don Simmons low to the stick side. After Norm Ullman went off for cross-checking, Metro Prystai scored a Shorthanded goal for a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period. Alex Delvecchio and Billy Dea added power play goals in the second period to make it 5-0. With Fern Flaman in the box, Lorne Ferguson smacked in a rebound to make it 6-0 Detroit. The Bruins got on the board when Fleming Mackell tipped in a backhand shot by Bob Armstrong. Ullman countered with his first career playoff goal. With a little over two minutes to play, Leo Boivin scored on a give-and-go with Don McKenney which made little difference as the Wings trounced the Bruins 7-2. Game 3 at the Boston Garden saw the Bruins never trail. First period goals by Vic Stasiuk and Leo Boivin was countered by a power play goal by Alex Delvecchio for a 2-1 Bruins lead. Leo Labine potted one late in the second period but Gordie Howe and Billy Dea tied it up three minutes into the third period. Veteran Cal Gardner was the hero with the winner at 13:28 for a 4-3 Bruins win. Game 4 at Boston was a clean game with relatively few penalties called. Don Simmons shutout the Red Wings and goals by Real Chevrefils and Vic Stasiuk saw the Bruins take a stranglehold on the series with a 2-0 victory. Game 5 at Detroit saw Delvecchio stake the Red Wings to a 1-0 first period lead. Bruins fourth liner Carl "Buddy" Boone scored his first career playoff goal in the second period to tie it up 1-1. The Wings kept pressing and early in the third period, Ted Lindsay put them up 2-1. However, the Bruins exploded for three straight goals by Labine, Mohns and Gardner for a 4-2 lead. Metro Prystai made it 4-3 with two minutes to go but despite pulling Glenn Hall, the Red Wings couldn't tie it up. Though registering only 15 shots on the goal, the Bruins won 4-3 and took the series in five games. Montreal Canadiens 4, Boston Bruins 1 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Player Stats Regular Season ;Scoring ;Goaltending Playoffs ;Scoring ;Goaltending Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts Awards and Records *Calder Memorial Trophy: Larry Regan *Fern Flaman, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star *Real Chevrefils, Right Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star Transactions *Purchase Allan Stanley from the Chicago Blackhawks on October 8, 1956. *Trade Norm Defelice, Floyd Smith and loan Jack Bionda to the New York Rangers for Don Simmons on January 22, 1957. Trivia *Bruins who recorded a Hat trick this season include: **Fleming Mackell during the 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on December 30, 1956. Gallery 16Apr1957-Richard_on_Simmons.jpg Video Three minutes of highlights from Game 2 of the Bruins-Red Wings 1957 Semi-finals with French commentary. Goals by Gordie Howe, Lorne Ferguson, Fleming Mackell and Leo Boivin are shown. GORDIE HOWE TED LINDSAY DON SIMMONS Boston Bruins Detroit Red Wings 1957 NHL playoff highlights-0 Highlights with English commentary of all goals in the 1957 Stanley Cup Finals and the Cup presentation. Montreal Canadiens win 1957 Stanley cup See Also *1956–57 NHL season References * Boston Bruins season, 1956–57 Boston Bruins season, 1956–57 Category:Boston Bruins seasons